Five years on from the horsemeat scandal, our flawed food system has still not been fixed

The problem comes from treating food more as a commodity than as a product

Five years ago, The Food Safety Authority of Ireland broke the news that numerous beefburgers sold by supermarkets such as Tesco, Asda, Lidl, Aldi and Iceland contained horse meat. A few weeks later, Findus beef lasagne was also found to be contaminated in an investigation that found equine ingredients in 11 out of 18 products tested.

“Horsegate” never posed a public health risk but it shook confidence in the security of the food supply chain. At least, temporarily it did. Red meat sales dropped in the aftermath and for a while retailers shifted to more local suppliers to restore confidence. But neither trend lasted.

Little of significance has changed since the scandal because the truth is that it was the almost inevitable consequence of a flawed food system, not just a failing of one small part of it. The nub of the problem is that farm produce is now more often a commodity sold on price than it is a product bought for its distinctive value.

To make this distinction clear, think of the difference between a farmer who supplies steaks to a local butcher and one who supplies them to a supermarket. The butcher sells the steak as a product from a particular place, will know what makes it particularly good or at least good-value, and will be able to pass on this knowledge to the customer. The supermarket lumps in the steak with all its others and the only connection with its producer by the time it hits the shelves will at most be a name on the label saying who supplied it. The next week, or even the next steak, could come from somewhere completely different, but will be sold as if it were identical.

The commod…

YOU’VE HIT THE LIMIT

You have now reached your limit of 3 free articles in the last 30 days. But don’t worry! You can get another 7 articles absolutely free, simply by entering your email address in the box below.

When you register we’ll also send you a free e-book—Writing with punch—which includes some of the finest writing from our archive of 22 years. And we’ll also send you a weekly newsletter with the best new ideas in politics and philosophy of culture, which you can of course unsubscribe from at any time

Email

Prospect may process your personal information for our legitimate business purposes, to provide you with our newsletter, subscription offers and other relevant information.

Click to learn more about these interests and how we use your data. You will be able to object to this processing on the next page and in all our communications.

Related articles

Comments

No comments yet

Prospect's free newsletter

The big ideas that are shaping our world—straight to your inbox. PLUS a free e-book and 7 articles of your choosing on the Prospect website.

Prospect may process your personal information for our legitimate business purposes, to provide you with our newsletter, subscription offers and other relevant information. Click here to learn more about these purposes and how we use your data. You will be able to opt-out of further contact on the next page and in all our communications.

This Month's Magazine

A special double issue with new writing from Clive James, Hannah Fry, Justin Welby, Cathy Newman, AL Kennedy and more! Plus: the fiction special and Prospect's books of the year

Prospect was originally founded by Editor David Goodhart and Publisher Derek Coombs, as a home for intelligent debate. The magazine is owned and supported by the Resolution Group, as part of its not-for-profit, public interest activities. The aim is to tackle the big challenges confronting society, through rigorous thinking and fine writing.

Register today and access any 7 articles on the Prospect’s website for FREE in the next 30 days.. PLUS find out about the big ideas that will shape our world—with Prospect’s FREE newsletter sent to your inbox. We'll even send you our e-book—Writing with punch—with some of the finest writing from the Prospect archive, at no extra cost!

Prospect subscribers have full access to all the great content on our website, including our entire archive.

If you do not know your login details, simply close this pop-up and click 'Login' on the black bar at the top of the screen, then click 'Forgotten password?', enter your email address and press 'Submit'. Your password will then be emailed to you.

Thank you for your support of Prospect and we hope that you enjoy everything the site has to offer.

This site uses cookies to improve the user experience. By using this site, you agree that we can set and use these cookies. For more details on the cookies we use and how to manage them, see our Privacy and Cookie Policy.